I don't know if I'd really want to lose another TNG character though. I know Data is back, but there still appears to be some question how big his role in future stories will be, and if he's not around much and Worf is gone then the only TV show characters left are Picard, Crusher, La Forge, and Taurik.

My money is still on Worf becoming the new captain of the Enterprise. In David's trilogy, it's made clear that Picard is seriously considering retiring from active duty, because of his family life. Not that that's going to happen within a year or so, but somewhere along the line, he will leave the Enterprise. And Worf, having been the first officer of the E-E for about 5 years now, is the most logical choice, not Data, who's been gone for a few years and is not the same Data that we used to know.

My money is still on Worf becoming the new captain of the Enterprise. In David's trilogy, it's made clear that Picard is seriously considering retiring from active duty, because of his family life. Not that that's going to happen within a year or so, but somewhere along the line, he will leave the Enterprise. And Worf, having been the first officer of the E-E for about 5 years now, is the most logical choice, not Data, who's been gone for a few years and is not the same Data that we used to know.

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Picard's inevitable retirement is being teased out quite a bit. The idea that he was turning the concept over in his head first came up in Paths of Disharmony, and it's been lurking as an ongoing sub-plot in all his appearances since. Although The Cold Equations concluded with the good captain deciding he wasn't quite ready yet, he is going to leave that ship before too long. (Since his next appearance apparently involves teaming up with Garak, I wonder if the Ambassador will convince him to leave Starfleet in favour of diplomacy ). A Captain Worf relaunch might appeal to DS9 fans as well as TNG fans.

It's been interesting to see Worf go from a young junior officer to an experienced senior officer over the years. The idea of a Klingon commanding a Federation starship would have been unthinkable during TOS.

As far as the evolution of the TNG crew...I'm really just of the opinion that the Enterprise-E will be around long enough to eventually have a totally different senior staff than the one she started off with. I think that was true for the original Enterprise in which perhaps none of April's original senior staff was around by the time Kirk took over some 20 years later.

They've already contradicted Countdown in how Data was resurrected. I enjoyed Countdown, but I'd like to see the novels tell their own independent version of events surrounding the supernova crisis.

As for Worf, I'm afraid I'm bored of the character, so a Captain Worf series doesn't really appeal to me. And I don't see Picard leaving the Enterprise, simply for the real-life reason that it would potentially screw up the TNG brand, which is still making Pocket Books money (I assume, since they're still making them 11 years after Nemesis!)

They've already contradicted Countdown in how Data was resurrected. I enjoyed Countdown, but I'd like to see the novels tell their own independent version of events surrounding the supernova crisis.

As for Worf, I'm afraid I'm bored of the character, so a Captain Worf series doesn't really appeal to me. And I don't see Picard leaving the Enterprise, simply for the real-life reason that it would potentially screw up the TNG brand, which is still making Pocket Books money (I assume, since they're still making them 11 years after Nemesis!)

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Oh, I certainly agree that Fek'lhr will be skating to work before the TNG books sideline Picard in any way, but I truly think Picard himself is more iconic and important to TNG than a starship Enterprise. I could see the books simply switching focus and becoming "the adventures of Ambassador Picard (Professor Picard? Old Man Picard?), Beverly Crusher, and child - also featuring wacky uncle Data and appearances by Captain Worf".

Picard will continue being the star of TNG, no doubt...but will he need to remain on the Enterprise to be so?

Oh, I certainly agree that Fek'lhr will be skating to work before the TNG books sideline Picard in any way, but I truly think Picard himself is more iconic and important to TNG than a starship Enterprise. I could see the books simply switching focus and becoming "the adventures of Ambassador Picard (Professor Picard? Old Man Picard?), Beverly Crusher, and child - also featuring wacky uncle Data and appearances by Captain Worf".

Picard will continue being the star of TNG, no doubt...but will he need to remain on the Enterprise to be so?

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The above ever happens and they can count me out as a buyer on TNG books. The Enterprise is still an important part of the series for this reader.

A Captain Worf series seems unlikely to me. Except TTN, only TV-based series are still ongoing. If it was viable to feature Captain Worf, we'd also have Star Trek: Challenger (Captain La Forge), Star Trek:Aventine and Klingon Empire and Corps of Engineers would still be running.

"Countdown" was deliberately vague, with readers assuming that Data's memories had somehow asserted themselves over the B-4's. But a short story tie-in to "Star Trek Online" in "Star Trek Magazine" threw a new complication to all that - and I thought David Mack's recent novels married up well with that new information.

My money is still on Worf becoming the new captain of the Enterprise. In David's trilogy, it's made clear that Picard is seriously considering retiring from active duty, because of his family life. Not that that's going to happen within a year or so, but somewhere along the line, he will leave the Enterprise. And Worf, having been the first officer of the E-E for about 5 years now, is the most logical choice, not Data, who's been gone for a few years and is not the same Data that we used to know.

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When I read that discussion at the start of the third book, given the 'big name' deaths in the previous two books, I seriously gave thought to the idea that Picard was going to die at the end and Worf would take the center seat.

Quote from Countdown:
"...a more apt description would be a simple 'return,' denoting the fact that my neural nets were successfully imprinted onto B-4's existing programming."

That (and the prequel story in The Needs of the Many) are directly contradicted by Cold Equations: Persistence of Memory which said B-4's neural net was too primative to process Data's memories, and doing so was causing a slow cascade failure.

That said, I haven't read the the STO stories in the Star Trek magazine, and they may have rewritten things somewhat to fit better.